In commercial buildings, structured cablings are being installed to an increasing extent, i.e., cablings which head out in a star-like pattern from a central distribution panel to outlets distributed throughout the building or one floor of the building. These structured cablings are designed for telecommunications and data networks, etc. Each socket on the distribution panel is connected by the cabling to a plug-in outlet. The individual outlets can be connected and reconnected individually to the distribution panel.
The distribution sockets on the distribution panel and the plug-in outlets for the terminal devices connected by the cabling are usually standard sockets with a predetermined number of contact poles. In many cases, sockets with eight contacts are used, e.g., RJ45 sockets. The structured cabling is often designed so that not all the contacts of the sockets are assigned. For example, ISDN and Ethernet networks are designed for only 4 wires, so that of the 8 contacts in the sockets, only 4 are occupied by wires of the structured cabling. If a 4-wire structured cabling of this type is to be used for 8-wire services, it is necessary to change the wiring of the distribution sockets and outlets and to connect the wires of two sockets in each case to the contact poles of a single socket. This means that installation will be expensive.